Posted on

Cannabis Extracts: Which Extraction Method is Best?

Cannabis Extracts: Which Extraction Method is Best?

Cannabis concentrates are all the rage, but with so many types available, how do you know where to start? If you’d like to buy concentrates online in Canada, then here we discuss the different extraction methods available.

Butane Honey Oil (BHO) Extractions

BHO extractions were originally used in the food and perfume industries. When used in the cannabis industry, raw cannabis flower is packed into a tube before butane is introduced in a pressurized environment to perform the extraction.

When the initial extraction is performed, the resulting cannabinoid-rich solution must be left so as the residual solvent can evaporate to safe levels. Many producers use a vacuum oven to purge the butane further and meet the regulatory requirements.

One drawback of BHO extraction is that it can be dangerous, so it is always best left to trained experts due to its flammable nature.

BHO extractions are most commonly used in the production of concentrates like shatter, crumble, budder, wax, and sap. With their high capacity for preserving cannabinoid content, BHO extraction techniques often average at around 80% THC.

CO2 Oil Extraction

CO2 extraction is widely used in the cannabis industry. It is both non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

It involves passing supercritical CO2 through raw cannabis buds to strip the trichomes from the plant. A liquid is then passed through a separator to remove the CO2 gas from the extracted material.

CO2 extraction is particularly effective at preserving terpene content in cannabis flower and, as a result, is especially beneficial when making waxes and oils.

An additional advantage is that it’s environmentally friendly. The CO2 gas used in extractions is pushed through a condenser, meaning the gas can liquify again before being recycled for reuse in other extractions.

Ethanol Extraction

Ethanol is widely used as a food preservative and is considered by the FDA to be safe for use. To extract THC from the cannabis plant, the raw plant material is soaked in a bath of ethanol.

The resulting solution is then refined further, where unwanted compounds are removed. It’s this step that helps ensure that concentrates made from ethanol extractions are some of the purest and best-tasting available.

Solventless Extractions

While there are many high-tech extraction techniques available, it’s also worth mentioning that some age-old methods exist that don’t require the use of solvents at all. Many of these solventless techniques have existed for centuries, and they often preserve much of the valuable cannabinoid, terpene, and flavonoid content of the original plant material.

Whether it’s hashish, charas, bubble hash, or rosin, these solventless concentrates require minimal specialized equipment. With some manual labour, along with heat and pressure, it’s possible to create some of the cleanest and strongest concentrates on the market that preserve the entire plant profile of compounds.

Get Ready to Buy Concentrates Online in Canada

Whether produced from BHO, ethanol, CO2, or your very own manual labour as you press the resin out by hand, there are countless ways to make cannabis concentrates.

If you love concentrates, then it’s important to know that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. With so many solvents used in the production of cannabis concentrates, it’s important to remember to always buy them from a reputable source.

Posted on

What’s the Difference Between Live Resin & Live Rosin?

What’s the Difference Between Live Resin & Live Rosin?

Cannabis concentrates are becoming more and more sophisticated. The diversity of options available allows consumers to choose what best suits their desired outcomes and lifestyles. Some of the options you can buy online in Canada include live concentrates. Live resin and live rosin are among these.

What exactly is a live concentrate, and how do these differ from other cannabis concentrates? Resin and rosin sound similar. Are they the same? If not, how do they differ? What benefits, if any, are there in selecting a live concentrate over cannabis flower?

In this post, we will explore these questions and more:

  • The basics of live concentrates, including techniques used to make them
  • Similarities and differences between live resin and live rosin
  • Why choose one of these live concentrates over the other

What Are Live Concentrates?

Concentrates come in many forms these days. When you buy marijuana online, you will find various concentrates, from waxes, extracts, and oils, to budder, shatter, diamonds, and more. Live concentrates are different from other concentrates due to how they are extracted and processed.

Sometimes referred to as “cured concentrates,” non-live concentrates are dried or cured before they are extracted. This is done to remove excess moisture. Live concentrates, however, are extracted from live, fresh cannabis. Using this method preserves the terpenes from the live plant matter, giving the concentrate a fuller aroma and flavour.

With cannabis, each compound adds to the experience, referred to as the “entourage effect.” Leafly states, “Our bodies take in hundreds of botanical compounds. Each one arrives with unique effects and benefits, and their behaviour may change in the presence of other compounds. This is the entourage effect.”

Because of the extraction method used for live concentrates, consumers will experience a fuller entourage effect.

How Are Live Concentrates Extracts

Live concentrates are extracted from live plant matter, and all the cannabinoids and terpenes from the live plant are preserved. Both live resin and live rosin are processed using extreme temperatures. From here, the processing methods become vastly different.

How Live Resin is Extracted

At first glance, the cost of live resin may be the only visible difference from other concentrates you can buy online in Canada. The real difference is in what we don’t see, and that is the extraction method.

The cannabis is not decarboxylated (heated) during extraction and processing. This method freezes live plant matter to preserve the integrity of the full profile of cannabinoids and terpenes, giving the finished product a robust aroma and flavour.

First, the cannabis is harvested, and then the live plant matter is frozen to subzero temperatures.

Next, live concentrates are put through a butane hash oil (BHO) extractor at extremely low temperatures, and high-quality live concentrate production does not use stems or fan leaves. The resulting product is a sticky resin, and the remaining solvent is extracted with a pump or vacuum in a process called “closed-loop extraction.”

This method is considered dangerous and should only be done in a lab by professionals. Extraction, processing, and the necessary safety requirements drive this dark yellow concentrate’s cost a little higher than cured concentrates. It is well worth the rich aroma and taste.

Live resins are available in many forms that cannabis connoisseurs who buy concentrates online in Canada will recognize, such as saps, sugars, butters, and even shatters.

How Live Rosin is Extracted

Live rosin processing is solventless. It is safer to produce than live resin, as the process uses no chemicals. It does have a few extra steps, and the resulting concentrate also costs a bit more than other cured concentrates.

Live rosin is an artisan product because it is produced manually.

After harvesting, the live cannabis is frozen. This preserves the terpenes until the producer is ready to make the live rosin.

The frozen cannabis is put in a bath of water and ice. The trichomes, which contain the cannabinoids and terpenes, are removed from the plant during this stage.

Next, the removed trichomes are manually sifted to ensure all plant matter is removed. The trichomes are made into a full melt bubble hash, which is put into a freeze drier.

The producer creates live rosin from the dried bubble hash by pressing it through a rosin press.

The finished live rosin is a high-quality product that ranges from creamy to yellowish in colour with a full terpene profile, rich scent, and robust flavour.

What Are the Differences Between Live Resin and Live Rosin?

The resulting live concentrates are both potent and high quality.

They differ primarily in how they are processed. This difference between live resin and live rosin matters to consumers who buy marijuana online.

Live resin is extracted using the BHO method, which uses a chemical solvent. With a solvent, there is always a chance that toxic residue—in this case, butane—will remain in the finished product.

Live rosin, however, uses a solventless method, so there is no chance of finding any chemical solvent in the finished product. For that reason, live rosin is an excellent option for the more wellness-focused cannabis consumer.

Why Buy Live Concentrates Online in Canada?

There are some key differences between live and cured concentrates and differences between live resin and live rosin. While it’s not possible to smell a product you are viewing on a screen, there are some excellent benefits from choosing live concentrates.

The flavour and aroma of a full terpene profile both provide a well-rounded, enjoyable experience. With live concentrates, you need to be willing to pay a little extra. Live concentrates cost a bit more, and they are worth it! Think of them as a long-lasting treat because a little concentrate goes a long way.

What Are the Differences Between Live Resin and Live Rosin?

Overall, both of these live concentrates are potent and high quality. They are different products that are processed differently. Live rosin is considered healthier because it is a solventless concentrate, whereas live resin is a solvent-based concentrate.

Both offer a full “entourage effect” experience, and those who buy concentrates online in Canada will each have their own set of criteria when choosing what works best for them.

Posted on

How to Dab CBD Concentrates: Everything You Need to Know

How to Dab CBD Concentrates: Everything You Need to Know

If you’ve ever seen marijuana concentrates for sale, you may have wondered just what they are. What exactly is shatter? What’s the difference between an oil and a tincture? Isn’t hash just another word for weed? Why get all fancy when you can just smoke dried herb?

Well, it turns out there are a few reasons why people prefer concentrates over traditional bud. Before we dive into the ‘why,’ let’s take a peek at just what concentrates are — and specifically CBD concentrates.

What Are Concentrates?

A concentrate, chemically speaking, is something expressed in a condensed form, or something made less diluted by eliminating fluid (water). In terms of marijuana, concentrates refer to such products as tinctures, infused oils, hash, shatter, wax, and dabbable oils. They are chemically more dense in psychoactive compounds than the whole flower, either leaning towards high THC or CBD content.

Hash, oils, and tinctures are old methods of concentrating cannabis. Hash is made from collecting trichomes (the sticky crystals) from the mature buds of cannabis plants and either pressing or rolling it into bricks or balls. Tinctures are made of plant matter steeped in alcohol in a specific ratio. Oils are much the same but steeped in oil instead. Whether alcohol or oil is more effective at extracting the compounds is plant-specific.

Shatter, wax, and dab oils are a more modern and complex form of making concentrates. Shatter, so named for its brittle and semi-translucent glass-like appearance, is made by extracting the desired compounds from the fresh/cured herb with a solvent. The resulting oil-like liquid is then heat-treated to remove the solvent and leave just the concentrated compounds of the marijuana plant. The final processing of the concentrate determines whether it ends up as shatter, oil, or wax.

CBD products, in particular, are made from the hemp plant. Hemp is very low in THC, which is perfect for those seeking the benefits without the high. The hemp matter is treated with the same process as cannabis to make CBD concentrates. Once the concentrate is extracted, it is ready to be dabbed.

What Is Dabbing?

Dabbing refers to inhaling vaporized cannabis concentrates. It involves using either a specialized bong-type device called a dab rig or a vape pen designed explicitly for concentrates. With a dab rig, the nail is heated with a torch and allowed to cool slightly before introducing the concentrate. Vape pens work similarly to regular dab rigs, with the added benefit of a more controlled temperature.

For serious dabbers, there is such a thing as an e-rig. This compact electric dab rig heats the nail with a battery rather than a torch. The temperature can be set to the user’s specifications, which is important so as not to burn the concentrate. E-rigs are prized for their portability and simplicity, though they will set you back a few hundred dollars for a good set-up.

Why Would I Dab?

So you’re pondering over marijuana concentrates for sale – the shatter looks so pretty, but is it really worth it? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it is!

The best part of marijuana concentrates is the elimination of the carcinogenic plant material that one would normally inhale from smoking dried flower. Smoking a whole joint is hard on the lungs, not only due to the unwanted chemicals that come with combusting plant matter but also the heat of the smoke itself. Dabbing results in a cleaner, cooler vapour that is easier on your airways with instantaneous effects. The high is typically more potent than just smoking weed.

With shatter, in particular, you need very little product per use. Because the concentrates are so pure, you can use tiny portions to make your shatter go a long way. Due to its chemical structure, shatter is very shelf-stable and can maintain its potency longer than waxes or oils.

Admittedly, the downside to dabbing is that it requires multiple pieces of specialty equipment. Unlike edibles that you can pop in your pocket to take along for later, dabbing requires several items that aren’t the most portable. Let’s jump into how dabbing works to explain the necessary equipment.

A Step By Step Guide To Dabbing

First and foremost, please make sure your concentrates come from a reliable source! While it is possible to make homemade concentrates, the risk for unremoved solvents remaining in your product is high – and that is stuff you certainly don’t want to inhale. Potency should be labelled on legitimately produced concentrates to give you an idea of what you’re working with.

After you’ve found marijuana concentrates for sale from somewhere you trust, it’s time to piece together the rest of the puzzle.

You Will Need:

  • Concentrate: shatter, wax, or dabbable oil
  • dab rig
  • dab tool
  • a nail that fits your rig
  • torch
  • carb cap (optional, but increases efficiency)

How to Do It:

  • Step 1: prep your dab rig according to type. Portion out a tiny bit of your concentrate – as we know, they are powerful (which is the whole point), so start with the tiniest portion you can collect with your dab tool. You can always dab more if you need to.
  • Step 2: heat your nail. Unless you have an e-rig, you’ll have to do this using a torch. Heat the nail until it is just starting to turn red. Let it cool for 30-60 seconds; ideal dabbing temperature is 350-400°. If you can comfortably (and carefully!) hold your hand about half an inch away from the nail, it is ready.
  • Step 3: slowly lower your dab tool and concentrate into the nail. It should melt upon contact with the rig and begin to vaporize. Inhale long and slow until all the concentrate is gone. If you have a carb cap, pop that on top to keep all the vapour in while you inhale.
  • Step 4: Exhale immediately. If you have the wherewithal to clean your nail right away, do so by letting it cool down a bit, then swiftly wiping it with a cotton swab.

If getting yourself all set up with a dab rig seems overwhelming, try starting with a dab pen. Pens aren’t as efficient as a dab rig and will require multiple hits to achieve the same effect, but they are simpler and more portable to use.

Benefits of Dabbing Concentrated CBD

If you’re medicating with CBD for health reasons, it makes sense to introduce it to your body as cleanly as possible. Dabbing a high-quality CBD concentrate eliminates the risks associated with smoking grass and delivers all the good qualities directly to your bloodstream. It is easier on your lungs, more immediate than edibles, and offers the user a chance to appreciate the enticing flavours of marijuana that are otherwise clouded by burning the herb.